Cam Skattebo was not supposed to be solely responsible for the Arizona State rushing attack. That was the case last year and the Sun Devils’ coaches admitted he was worn down by season’s end.
Fast forward to the current season, when the team came in with six ball carriers the coaching staff said it trusted. Skattebo wouldn’t need to carry the offense. Yet, through four games, Skattebo has 30 more carries than he did in the first four last season.
The Sun Devils (3-1, 0-1) will square off against Kansas (1-4, 0-2) at 5 p.m. Saturday at Mountain America Stadium and the good news is head coach Kenny Dillingham has his full complement of running backs available for the first time this season.
“We absolutely have to,” Dillingham said, of the need to involve others in the running game. “Our yards per carry still isn’t high enough overall as a team, especially the last two weeks. We have to increase our yards per carry. The biggest way to do that is to have some big plays and we still have not produced enough big plays in the running game. Plays that go for 30, 50 yards.
“We’ve been very old school in our running game in terms of, six yards, five yards, three yards, five yards. Eventually, you have to be explosive. I do think getting more running backs involved, keeping guys fresher, pitching more guys, is a way to do that.”
Skattebo, a solidly built 5-foot-11, 215-pounder, has been pushed early this season because of the unavailability of others in his group. He tallied 86 carries in the first four games, which led all FBS running backs. He had a career-high 33 carries for 262 yards in the 30-23 win over Mississippi State, earning him national player of the week accolades.
In 2023 his high was 24 carries and that was one of just two games in which he had 20 or more.
Skattebo has been instrumental in the passing game as well,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/step-help-cam-skattebo-arizona-215117529.html
Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic
Publish date : 2024-10-02 21:51:17
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